E - Iccat

3 rd WG FUTURE OF ICCAT – MADRID 2012
49. Given the numerous references and recommendations and resolutions in the ICCAT Compendium
relating to improvements in data collection, the Panel finds it difficult to formulate a
recommendation that might make a difference. The Panel strongly believes that: misreporting must
stop immediately; CPCs must collect and report Task I and Task II data in a timely manner within
the agreed time limits; effort should be continued to build capacity in developing CPCs and improve
reporting by developed CPCs and CPCs who continually fail to comply should be subject to an
appropriate penalties regime. Such a regime should be severe and be enforceable.
The Committee believes that a response to this recommendation could be best handled by the Compliance
Committee and the Commission as a whole.
Beyond meeting time-lines for reporting, at issue remains the quality of the information being reported, which
has largely not been fully analyzed. It is the intent of SCRS to move beyond examination of reports for
timeliness and evolve toward a more structured evaluation of the quality of the information being reported by
CPCs, with an eye toward improvements in that area.
51. The Panel recommends that the SCRS endeavour to provide simple, succinct and user-friendly advice
to fisheries managers and Commissioners on the status of ICCAT stocks and the expected effects of
potential management measures; that ICCAT Contracting Parties review their current management
recommendations to ensure that they align with the current scientific assessment of the status of the
stocks; and that ICCAT consider seriously the structure and basis of its decision making framework
particularly in relation to fisheries management. A decision making framework should be adopted
that guides the outcome of decisions and forces discipline consistent with the objectives of ICCAT on
CPCs.
a) The Committee endeavors to provide simple, succinct and user-friendly advice, although it may not always
achieve it. The Committee welcomes suggestions for improvement such as the Kobe II Strategy Matrix and
the Resolution by ICCAT to Standardize the Presentation of Scientific Information in the SCRS Annual
Report and in Working Group Detailed Reports [Res. 2011-14]
b) The Committee believes that the other sentences in this recommendation would be best handled by the CPCs
and by the Commission as a whole. The Recommendation by ICCAT on the Principles of Decision Making
for ICCAT Conservation and Management Measures [Rec. 11-13] will guide the Commission on actions to
be taken to achieve the Convention objectives, and the SCRS should also use it as a framework when
developing limit reference points and harvest control rules and when conducting Management Strategy
Evaluations (MSE).
Proposal for Consideration at the 3 rd Meeting of the Working Group
on the Future of ICCAT: Modification of Rule 9 in ICCAT Rules of Procedure
in Respect of Inter-sessional Voting
(Submitted by Canada)
Appendix 7 to ANNEX 4.2
Inter-sessional votes at ICCAT have become more common. Recent examples have shown that a high proportion
of Parties not responding in an inter-sessional vote may have a determining outcome on a decision. Under the
current Rules of Procedure, an omission to vote is recorded as an abstention and, as such, has the same effect as
a vote against a proposal. While modifying the quorum, the majority or how abstentions are counted in a vote
might require an amendment to ICCAT’s Convention, modifications could be made to Rule 9 (Voting) of
ICCAT’s Rules of Procedure to improve the inter-sessional voting process.
A) Objectives and outcomes of the proposal
The proposal to modify Rule 9 of the Rules of Procedure seeks to encourage greater participation in intersessional
votes by members of the Commission as well as to ensure that outcomes of inter-sessional votes reflect
more accurately the will of the Commission, by:
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